Intergeneric crosses of columbids in captivity are common, but in
nature there is little evidence that even interspecific crosses occur.
Only one apparent hybrid between members of the genus _Zenaida_ and
genus _Zenaidura_ has ever been discovered. The individual was taken on
the Yucatan peninsula of Mexico, and was described and named as a new
species (_Zenaidura yucatanensis_).
Salvadori (1893:373), Ridgway (1916:353) and Peters (1934:213-215)
agree that _Zenaidura yucatanensis_ Lawrence is a hybrid between
_Zenaidura macroura marginella_ and _Zenaida aurita yucatanensis_.
Ridgway (1916:355), however, notes that "... If _Zenaidura
yucatanensis_ Lawrence should prove to be really a distinct species,
and not a hybrid ... unquestionably _Zenaida_ and _Zenaidura_ can not
be separated generically, since the former is in every way exactly
intermediate between the two groups." In the event that the unique type
is a hybrid, the very fact of its existence supports the hypothesis
that the genera are more closely related than is currently recognized.